CLEVELAND - Redshirt freshman Aden Valencia advanced to the finals of the NCAA Championships, while four Cardinal earned All-America honors, Friday, at Rocket Arena.
Joining Valencia as All-Americans are Nico Provo (125), Tyler Knox (133) and Angelo Posada (197). Stanford’s four All-Americans at the NCAA Championships is a new program record. The Cardinal sits in sixth place as a team with 58 points with one day remaining.
Valencia is the fourth individual Cardinal to wrestle for a national title and the first since Shane Griffith in 2021 and 2022.
The No. 10 seed at 149 pounds, Valencia will face top-seeded Shayne Van Ness of Penn State in the finals on Saturday. The Morgan Hill native is the first Cardinal freshman to reach the finals.
Valencia, who redshirted his first season on The Farm, defeated No. 11 seed Lachlian McNeil of Michigan, 9-5, in the semifinals.
Knox, who finished eighth last season in Philadelphia, took out No. 5 seed Kyler Larkin of Arizona State, 5-4, in the Round of 12 to become just the eighth multiple-time All-American in school history. He will face No. 3 seed Marcus Blaze of Penn State in the consolation semifinals.
Provo, the No. 7 seed at 125 pounds, secured his first All-America honors with an 11-4 decision over No. 4 seed Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh in the Round of 12. He meets No. 14 seed Jacob Moran of Indiana in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
Posada is the second true freshman All-American in program history, joining Joey McKenna (2016). The No. 9 seed at 197 pounds, he posted a 9-0 major decision against No. 12 seed Luke Geog of Ohio State in the Round of 12. He will wrestle third-seeded Stephen Little of Little Rock in the consolation semifinals.
The medal round is set for 8 a.m. PT on Saturday on ESPNU. The finals will start at 3:30 p.m. PT on ESPN.
Stanford's Tournament Results:
125 - (7) Nico Provo, 5-1
dec. (26) Cooper Flynn (Chattanooga), 8-2
lost to (10) Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 4-2
maj. dec. (25) Kael Lauridsen (Nebraska), 16-4
dec. (16) Ezekiel Witt (North Dakota State), 8-2
dec. (4) Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh), 11-3
maj. dec. (11) Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 11-3
133 - (15) Tyler Knox, 5-1
dec. (18) Gunner Andrick (West Virginia), 10-3
lost to (2) Ben Davino (Ohio State), 21-5 (4:18)
dec. (16) Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin), 10-7
dec. (23) Braxton Brown (Maryland), 11-6
dec. (5) Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State), 5-4
dec. (13) Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 6-3
141 - (10) Jack Consiglio, 2-2
dec. (23) Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 9-5
lost to (7) Nasir Bailey (Iowa), 11-5
dec. (9) Joey Olivieri (Rutgers), 10-8
lost to (15) Elijah Griffin (Rider), 5-3
149 - (10) Aden Valencia, 4-0
maj. dec. (23) Max Petersen (North Dakota State), 18-6
dec. (7) Ethan Stiles (Ohio State), 7-5
dec. (2) Jaxson Joy (Cornell), 12-9
dec. (11) Lachlian McNeil (Michigan), 9-5
157 - (9) Daniel Cardenas, 3-2
dec. (24) Jaivon Jones (Little Rock), 7-2
lost to (8) Brandon Cannon (Ohio State), 8-7
maj. dec. (23) Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo), 15-6
tech. fall (18) DJ McGee (George Mason), 17-2 (7:00)
lost to (3) Meyer Shapiro (Cornell), 4-1
165 - (27) EJ Parco, 2-2
dec. (6) LJ Araujo (Nebraska), 8-7
dec. (11) Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa), 4-3
lost to (3) Mikey Caliendo (Iowa), 14-3
lost to (16) Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), 5-2 (SV)
184 - (28) Abraham Wojcikiewicz, 1-2
lost to (5) Brock Mantanona (Michigan), 14-9
tech. fall (21) Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State), 17-1 (5:11)
lost to (22) Zack Ryder (Oklahoma State), 10-2
197 - (9) Angelo Posada, 4-1
fall (24) Brock Zurawski (Rider), F2:56
dec. (25) Evan Bates (Missouri), 9-4
lost to (1) Josh Barr (Penn State), 19-3 (4:51)
maj. dec. (12) Luke Geog (Ohio State), 19-8
dec. (16) Branson John (Maryland), 5-2 (SV)